Valve mechanism for controlling flow of liquids.



PATENTED NOV. 22, 1.904

A. PRIEfiTMAN. ISM FOR CONTROLLING PLOW OP LIQUIDS.

VALVE MEGHAN APPLIGAIION FILED FEB. 5. 1904.

NO MODEL.

J 4 TTORNEY.

No. 775,85F.

rrnn Starts Patented November 22, 190%.

VALVE MECHANISM FUN GONTROLLING FLOW OF LIQLHDS,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 77 5,855, dated November 22, 1904. Application filed February 5, 1904. Serial No. 192,086. (No model.)

To (1, whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT PRIESTMAN, of the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Valve Mechanism for Controlling the Flow of Liquids, of which the following is a specification.

Heretofore valves forcontrolling the How of liquids have been constructed of metal, wood, or other solid substances, with a moving part acting to close an aperture or passage-way.

Such valves must be carefully fitted to effect a liquid-tight seating of the movable part on the seat about the aperture or passage-way and are subject to wear and corrosion and rendered leaky by the lodgment of solid matter between the movable part and the seat, which prevents the tight closure of the valve.

It is the object of my invention to obviate these diiliculties by dispensing entirely with the movable piece and its solid seat and effecting the closure of the liquid passage-way by a body of air or gas forced by mechanical means into the passage-way and forming an air column held in place by-and supporting a column of liquid on the discharge or outlet side. Owing to the difference in the densities of the air or gas and the liquid, this liquid column will not only hold the body of air in place, but will also support a liquid column on the inlet side above the inlet of a height approximately equal to its own height. It follows, therefore, that this body of air in the liquid passage-way will operate as a valve to prevent the flow of liquid when the pressure at the inlet is less than the pressure of the liquid column on the outlet side. To effect this result, .it is necessary to force into the liquid passageway a sufficient volume of air to displace and form on the outlet side a liquid column of suliicient height to overcome the pressure at the inlet, and this is obtained by positively forcing the air by a compressor, pump, or other mechanical device by which the requisite airpressure may be obtained.

To open the valve, it is only necessary to relieve the air-pressure in the liquid passageway, when the back pressure of the sustained column of liquid on the discharge side is destroyed and the liquid may flow through the passage-way under the pressure of the inlet.

lam aware that air-locks have been used heretofore in which the pressure of the outgoing liquid has been utilized to force air through an air-pipe into a fi-shaped pipe to air-bind and prevent the flow of liquid through said pipe when the outgoing liquid had reached a given level, and I do not mean to claim such devices. My invention diii'ers, essentially, from devices of this kind in that the closing of the valve to the passage of the liquid is positively and directly controlled by mechanical means and is entirely independent of the level of the outflowing liquid. It is simply a valve for controlling the flow of liqu ids,which may be closed at will by the person in charge irrespective of what becomes of the discharged liquid and is intended for purposes to which the devices referred to are neither adapted nor intended.

My valve mechanism is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the valve mechanism applied to controlling the flow of liquid from a tank or reservoir, the valve proper being shown in vertical section. Fig. 2 a vertical section of the valve, on an enlarged scale; and Fig. 3 a horizontal section on the line A A of Fig. 2.

The valve-body a is provided on one side with an inlet 0, connected with the supplypipe 0 from the tank or reservoir (Z, from which the flow of liquid is to be controlled, and on the other side with an outlet which may comn'nmicate with a suitable dischargepipef.

Within the valve-body wis a liquid passageway which, as shown, is formed as follows:

A n-shaped wall or partition is arranged within the valve-body having its lower edges at a distance from the bottom. A partition 71 extends from the bottom of the valve-body part way up into the space between the side walls of the partition 1. 'llhese partitions and 7 form a serpentine passage-way Zj/il through the valve-body between theinlet and outlet, through which the liquid must pass in traversing the valve. if desired, this airv within the partition g until it displaces and space j will balance the equal column in the be formed of an r is a U-shaped tube or partition into which extends the wall of the partition 1 on the outthrough the walls of let side, forming therewith a U-shaped water be i seal s, into which projects an air or gas pipe i a, which may, if desired, lead from the storage-tank p and be provided with a suitable valve 1". When the valve to is closed by the column of compressed air in the space 7c, the water seal 5- on the side communicating with the passage-Way Z will be filled with water to the level a: m, and if air is forced through the Supposing the valve to be attached to a resl pipe 0' it will force the water out of the waervoir, such as (Z, having a liquid level above l ter seal toward the outlet 6, the pressure on the outlet 0, the liquid will flow under hydrothat side being the least, and will thus relieve static pressure through the serpentine pasl the air-pressure within the partition 9 and sage way if 7; Z to the outlet space i so that the liquid may flow through If it is desired to stop the flow, air is forced l the serpentine passage-way '1: j is Z to the outthrough the pipe in into the liquid passagelet 0. way under the partition g, and, being of less In the upper part of the valve-body a may density than the liquid, it will accumulate be arranged a partition 2 to prevent liquid passing over the top of the partition g to the outlet 0. The valve-body should be open to the atmosphere at the top to prevent air-pres tight liquid passage-way may n-shaped pipe m is a pipe projecting the partition g, by which air or gas may forced into the liquid passage-Way bounded by the walls of said partition. The pipe is shown projecting downward a distance into the space i between the walls g and it, but this is not i l necessary, though it is in some cases desirable. It will usually be sufiicient if the pipe on opens through the top of the partition 5]. l

ejects through the passage-ways A: Z an approximately equal volume of liquid. There will then be acolumn of compressed air withi sure on the column of liquid in Z.

in the upper portion of the partition g above The construction of the valve may be greatly the level w and in the space 7c between the varied without departing from the invention. walls It and g, which will supportacolumn of It is only necessary that there should be an liquid on the inlet side above the level :0 {0 apfl-shaped liquid passage-way having one leg proximately equal to the column between the communicating with the inlet and the other levels {a and ;z y. The liquid column in the leg with an outlet so located that a liquid column can be formed by the injected air between the outlet-leg of the liquid passage-way and the level of the outlet. The length of legs of the fi'shaped liquid passage-way and the level of the outlet will therefore depend upon the hydrostatic head or pressure to be sustained at the inlet when the valve is closed.

It will be noted that no devices are necessary to regulate the air-pressure through the pipe on, since any excess of pressure will merely have the effect of forcing the excess of air out through the liquid column Z without decreasing that column or opening the valve.

WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A valve mechanism consisting of an airtight fl-shaped liquid passage-way communieating at each end with a liquid column, and means controlled at will to force air or gas into said passage-way to displace a column of liquid on the outlet side of said fl-shaped passageway, and thereby enable a column of liquid, approximately equal to the displaced column, to be supported on the inlet side above the normal level of the column of liquid on the inlet-leg of said fi-shaped passage-way.

2. A valve mechanism consisting of an airtight fi-shaped liquid passage-way communicating at each end with a liquid column, means controlled at will to force air or gas into said passage-way to displace a column of liquid on the outlet side of said fl-shaped passage-way and thereby enable a column of liquid, approximately equal to the displaced column, to be supported on the inlet side above the norspace 2' up to the level [(711). As the air column in the space A is of much less density than the liquid column in the space Z, the latter column will hold the air column in l in place and will also counterbalance and hold back a column of liquid above the level :0 0; approximately equal to its own height.

The column or compressed air or gas thus supported by the liquid column Z forms a positive and effective valve for closing the passage-way through a j A Z to the flow of liquid in any case where the level to be maintained in the reservoir or apparatus connected with the inlet or the pressure at the inlet does not exceed the height of the column I or its pressure.

Any suitable mechanical means may be used for forcing the air into the liquid passage-way. For purposes of illustration I have shown an air-pump 72', driven by an engine 0, and supplying air to a storage-tank 1), connected with the air-pipe m. The air-pipe on may be provided with a valve m, which if constructed as a three-way valve with a relief-port may be used to relieve the air-pressure in the valve (0 and open the passage-way 2' j Z Z to the flow of liquid. v

It is obvious that the valve may be opened to the flow of liquid by relieving the air-pressure within the chamber formed by the partition g in any convenient manner. While this may be effected by means of the valve 121, I prefer to employ for this purpose the pressure-relief device shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

mal level of the column of liquid on the inlet side of said f't-shaped passage-way, and means to relieve the air-pressure in said Wshaped passage-way to unseal it and permit the liquid to flow.

3. A valve mechanism consisting of an airtight I'l-shaped liquid passage-way communieating at each end with a liquid column, a pipe opening into the interior of said liquid passage-way, and means controlled at will to force air or gas through said pipe into said fl-shaped passage-way, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4:. A, valve mechanism for controlling the flow of liquids, consisting of an air-tight fishaped liquid passage-way communicating at each end with a liquid column, a storage-tank to contain air or gas under pressure, a supplypipe leading from said storage-tank to said liquid passage-way, and an air-pump to force air into said storage-tank.

5. A valve mechanism for controlling the flow of liquids, consisting of an air-tight flshaped liquid passage-Way communicating at each end with a liquid column, a storage-tank to contain air or gas under pressure, a supplypipe leading from said storage-tank to said liquid passage-Way, an air-pump to force air into said storage-tank, and means to relieve the air-pressure in said n-shaped passage-way.

6. A valve device for controlling the flow of liquids, consisting of a valve-body having an inlet and an outlet, a fl-shaped liquid passageway in said valve-body communicating at each end with a liquid column, a pipe opening into said H-shaped liquid passage-Way, and means controlled at will to force air or gas under pressure through said pipe into said fl-shaped liquid passage-Way, substantially as and for the purposes described.

7. A valve device for controlling; the flow of liquids consisting of a valve-body having an inlet on one side and an outlet on the other,

the internal [ll-shaped partition 7 and the upright partition it, forming together and with the walls of the valve-body a serpentine liql through said partition g, and means controlled at will to force air or gas through said airpipe into the central portion of said serpentine passageway.

8. A valve device for controlling the flow oi liquids, consisting of a valve-body having an inlet on one side and an outlet on the other, the internal l'l-shaped partition and the upright partition it, forming together and with the walls of the valve-body a serpentine liquid passageway "11 I X, an air-pipe opening through said partition g, means controlled at will to force air or gas through said air-pipe into the central portion of said serpentine passage-way, and means to relieve the airpressure under said partition.

9. A valve device for controlling the flow of liquids, consisting of a valve-body having an inlet on one side and an outlet on the other, the internal I'll-shaped partition 5 and the upright partition /i, forming together and with the walls of the valve-body, a serpentine liquid passage-way t j 7: Z, an air-pipe o jiening through said partition g, means controlled. at will to force air or gas through said air-pipe into the central portion of said serpentine passage-way, consisting of a water seal a between said passage-ways Z Z, and an air force pipe 2' projecting into said water seal.

10. A valve device for controlling the How of liquids, consisting of a vertically-arranged. serpentine water-conduit communicating at one end with the inlet and at the other end With the outlet, an air-pipe opening into the central portion of said serpentine conduit, and means controlled at will to force air or gas through said pipe into the central bends of said serpentine conduit.

In testimony oi which invention I hereunto set my hand.

ERNns'r HowAno HUNTER, R. .M. KELLY. 

